GCSEs taking over and DD losing interest

[Cotswoldsrchilly]

My DD is buried in homework/revision and I am surprised and saddened that she doesn’t seem at all interested in her pony for a bit of light relief even occasionally. The most I can persuade her to do is to help feed the odd evening, more as an excuse to get some fresh air as much as anything. Once she gets out there she enjoys being around the horses again, but she doesn’t seem to have any plans for the summer once exams are out of the way, let alone ride a bit for fun in the meantime.

With the atrocious weather, I am frustrated that her pony is not going to be up and fit to do anything much is she picks up interest again after exams.

Here pony is great, and they had a very successful season last year, and she’s got friends in Pony Club, but obviously not anyone who will winkle her out of her slump!
She’s dropped her other sports and interests too and so now only does schoolwork or electronic interaction, which is not a good balance.
Any top tips of how to approach this?

We had the opposite situation here - dd did her GCSEs last year and spending time with her horse kept her sane. If your dd is anything like my children, the best way to stop her doing something is to make it obvious that’s what you want her to do . It is very common for teenagers to lose interest, especially if they’ve had horses for a while. My DD’s only had her horse for the last year and a bit and she saved up for him for years so she has a lot emotionally invested in him. It might be best for her pony to admit that the partnership has come to the end of the road and find him a new home where he can be appreciated?

I second what Please said. Time for a frank discussion with DD. If she has lost interest, it is a good time to sell D Pony. If she has a good PC record from last year, she will go quickly. Pointless to waste a horse which could be doing its job with a more enthusiastic rider.

I guess it depends whether your pony is a long term family member who won’t be sold no matter what or your DD has a pony in order to compete / do PC etc and would be selling him anyway when out of ponies.

If the former, I would not worry too much about him getting a bit unfit. He can have a quiet time and she can pick him up in June. If the latter, then I would have a conversation about selling him now, so his new rider can have a full season on him.

GCSEs are so much work. My DD is coming up to A levels but still riding 3 or 4 times a week. She doesn’t compete so is happy to keep her horse ticking along. And he’s on full livery so no need to go up every day.

Oh and as my DD pointed out to me - the focus shouldn’t be on the pony (ponies don’t have ambition / care about their competition record) but on making it easy for the DD to take a break from the grind of GCSEs and do something outdoors / fun - even just going for a hack when the weather is good.

Totally agree with what everyone else has said , if your plan is to keep the pony regardless then just let her get on with whatever she wants to do . My dc both lost interest very early on but we don’t sell anything so the pony has had a very long retirement ( which she appears to be thoroughly enjoying ) .

My eldest daughter lost interest at about 15 - she'd been more reluctant to ride for a bit, we sold her pony to a great home. My younger daughter was still riding a lot, so older DD then wanted to, but never really got back into it - was happy to ride if I groomed, tacked up etc...... Eventually I dug my toes in and we sold the second pony (older DD's).
Younger DD is now 15, would rather ride than do her homework or study...... but loves her pony, does the majority herself, and gets so much enjoyment out of riding that I'm reluctant to rein her in. She's still getting decent marks in her tests - she could improve, but I really think that it's more important for her to have a decent balance.
Are you sure the interest hasn't just dropped off due to the constant bad weather, dark nights, mud and whatever? Even my middle DD has been a little less keen to ride this past month, but the thought of competing has kept her going, even if it's just a quick trot out. This winter really is the pits.